Boswell Research Archives

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Builds: Jim hunts for an MB

• CATEGORIES: Builds • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

misc-491Here’s another great purchase adventure from Jim.  Thanks Jim!

Jim writes, “Another flat fender adventure but this time with a happy ending (not that kind of happy ending).

The guy on the phone said, “its a WWII Willys MB, great shape, original, runs and drives etc $3000”. So, I drive 6 hours west to Flagstaff and pick up a buddy of mine, then turn around and head back the way I came to find this elusive rig.

misc-492We travel many miles east to Winslow, then the “fun” started as we began to follow what turned out to be a nightmare set of directions. Turn at the end of the pavement, follow the mining road, take the left side of the wagon trail over miles and miles of beat-your-truck-to-death-washboard, dust-covered, filthy, silty, rocky, brutal, teeth grinding, two-track trail for two straight hours! Good thing I had my truck washed and waxed the day before.

We get there, see the jeep and man am I unhappy in the middle of nowhere. It is bad, horrible, mismatched wheels, fat, flat, rotten tires, high back bucket seats, roll bar, filled with junk, a butchered windshield frame, and obviously not driven for years. Nowhere near a $3K MB.

misc-493I looked at the poor guy, surrounded by his huge collection of junk and said no offense pal but that’s a pile of parts shaped like a jeep worth maybe $500 and I’m not too happy you got me all the way out here for this mess.

He said well, I need the money and if that’s what its worth, hand me $500 and here’s the title. Um, well, that pretty much killed my next argument and shut me up.

After throwing away the seats and roll bar, filling a huge trash can with junk, garbage, pounds of dirt, alternators, a radiator, various parts of other cars and rat nests I started looking closer.

misc-494It has the right engine, though 12 volt, right trans, right axles, a super straight nose and dash, a decent tub, mmm…. I check my parts pile and find some correct seat frames, a gas tank, a perfect windshield frame (all from a Durango yard sale for $100) and even managed to come up with 4 civilian 16″ wheels with rollers so I could remove the fat, flat rubber and mismatched spoke wheels.

With a fresh battery we found it would turn over but not start, though it had good spark. Turns out a pack rat had been using the carb as a toilet! There was literally 2 inches of rat shit in the carb! We yanked a good carb off a CJ3A, bolted it up, hit the starter and what do you know, the motor not only ran but sounded great with 50+psi oil pressure. All of the sudden it looked like an MB, with the yard sale parts, skinny tires and wheels, you could start to see the past, faded olive drab ghost of its military history.

I think this is going to be fun, maybe build an SAS desert MB replica loaded with period correct gear and painted desert tan? What to do, what to do….

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Jim’s Camo Seat Cushions

• CATEGORIES: News • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Jim sent out a some images of his Camo Seat Cushions this evening.

He writes, ” They fit CJ2A CJ3A CJ3B M38 M38A1 M606 Early CJ5 CJ6.   Note:The set of seat cushions in the picture are not screwed in place, just set up to show you what they’ll look like installed. Once screwed into the seat back, fit will be tight and correct”

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Seat Cushion Examples

• CATEGORIES: Features, Website • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE:  These are no longer for sale.  I keep this post just for ideas.

jims_seats

Jim writes, “I’m tired of not having anything out there anymore for Willys. For example, the only replacement seats you can get for an early Willys are either military or black vinyl.  How boring! There are no more bikini tops of any variety – everyone pretty much runs the same boring top.  Continue reading

 
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1946 VEC CJ-2A Durango, Co soon on eBay

• CATEGORIES: CJ-2A • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Jim’s giving us an early look at the VEC CJ-2A he pulled out of Crawford, Colorado.  He’s planning on listing this on eBay very soon (unless he gets a good offer before then).  He’d really like it to go to someone who will give it a good restore.

He writes:  “I pulled this CJ-2A out of Crawford Colorado.  It has an early serial number, three on the tree, tool indents, 3 piece agri dash plate, early wire steering wheel, 6 volt, very little rust, runs great, motor is super quiet.  The serial number is 17614.”

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1954 CJ-3B Durango, Co **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: CJ-3B • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE:  Congrats Jim!

This is another nice makeover by Jim.  It’s been sold (see comments)

“… Extremely original factory stock drive train, 4 cylinder F head, 3 spd transmission, model 18 transfer case, 6 volt electrical. Starts right up, engine is quiet, smooth, no smoke, runs, drives, steers, stops great, everything works as it should. Originally from Arizona desert so no rust, none, zero, body, floorboards, frame etc. are all completely rust free.  New military canvas seats, 5 days old ….”

View all the pics on ebay

http://westslope.craigslist.org/cto/1188256332.html

1954_cj3b_durango

 
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Harry’s Great American Adventure

• CATEGORIES: News • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Jim forwarded me this great story of Harry, who is from Denmark.  Thanks for sharing Jim and Best of Luck Harry!  Here’s Jim’s remarks:

“I sold this 51 M38/CJ3A a few months ago on eBay to a very animated guy in Denmark named Harry. He showed up here in Durango a week ago to pick it up, saying he wanted to drive it to Dallas Texas (1000 miles!) and see a little of the country side. He turned out to be a really great guy; So, I invited him to stay here at the house and prep the jeep for the trip. We rode Harleys on a 300 mile loop through the Colorado mountains, ate, drank, laughed, learned some German and Danish, drank his home made honey wine, smoked a huge brisket for 16 hours, and drank rum around the bonfire at night swapping stories. After a couple days of lube, oil changes, collecting spare parts, tuning, etc,  he jumped in last Friday and drove a nearly 60 year old, un-restored, stock, Willys jeep at 45 mph all the way to Dallas Texas in 3 days. I talked to him this morning. He said it ran great, the only failures being a coil and a starter solenoid.  That’s pretty minor considering what could have gone wrong. He said he got terribly bored crossing the New Mexico desert, so he yelled at cows in Danish as he passed just for entertainment. Harry my new friend, I salute you, you are nuts, you are crazy, you are my kind of people, my hat is off to you!”

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Jim’s 1946 CJ-2A Durango, Co eBay

• CATEGORIES: CJ-2A • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

1946_cj2a_durangoJim’s selling his hot rod.  Jeeps seem to be like cats, you never real own them, only take care of them for a while.

“This is our beast, our grunt wagon, I took this heavily modified Jeep in trade on a full military M38 jeep I was selling a couple years ago thinking that I had no interest in a V8 powered Willys. Then I started driving it, and playing with it, and liking it, really liking it, it is a beast, a powerhouse, it is the grunt wagon. I’ll try to list everything that’s been modified, rebuilt, changed etc, the list is long. A little warning here, please don’t buy this rig for your teenage son, it has way too much power for someone lacking experience. I would have killed myself in this thing at that age as nearly 300 HP in a 2400lb short wheel base, lifted flat fender jeep does not have a very large margin of error. ”

View all the pics on eBay

View the Craigslist Ad

 
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Builds – Jim turns down this fixer upper

• CATEGORIES: Builds • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Succumbing to the Willys sickness, Jim checks out a possible deal, only to discover this mess …  he writes:

“Skunked by trailer trash. “Oh yeah, sure nuff, its real purty, a dang nice old willard jeep, bring youres trailer cuz youins gonna want thisun fer sure.” “Yessir, we wuz just drivin it a few weeks ago, but took some apert to restore it, then decidered to sell er.” “A battery, sum gas and few hours of fun, you could be drivin that afternoon fer sure, only want $1500 fer her and boy howdy it hurts me to let er go for that.”

Lying sack-o-crap, 58 (one way) miles later, trailer in tow and cash in hand, I was, well, lets just say, I was not very happy! Notice the engine is just hanging down between the engine mounts! Whats holding it there? As far as I can tell, the back of the trans hitting the tub and the fear of falling! Jeez, what a waste of time, he offered to come down to $1300 cause he liked me, I wanted to offer a lasting scar and a limp. grrrrr!

It is fun though… Dang this Willys sickness!”

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Builds — Jim’s 1949 CJ-3A (Potentially for sale now)

• CATEGORIES: CJ-3A • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Except for those funky turn signals on the front grille, this is a great looking stock jeep.  Jim’s getting this running again and then will decide whether to sell it to someone who will love it.  Otherwise, he’ll keep it and decide what to do with it.

“I pulled this CJ3A (vin 3J28941) out of a little mining town called Silverton. Its bone stock, 6 volt and appears to have never been touched, never had a roll bar, has a rare dealer installed all aluminum hardtop and doors.  A little update on this rig:  I  rebuilt the carb, flushed the tank, blew the lines, new fuel pump etc and we got it started! Not bad for not being run for 10 years!  Motor sounds excellent, no smoke, oil pressure is 60 psi! Now for a complete brake overhaul and then it will be driven for the first time in more 10 years! Anybody want to buy a rare all aluminum hardtop and doors?”

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Builds: Jim’s new project (or parts jeep)

• CATEGORIES: Builds • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

miscstuff-268-2I can only imagine that Jim travels with a trailer everywhere he goes, just in case he sees a stray jeep on the side of the road.  Well, in this case, he went to buy some tires and bought the whole thing.  I can’t wait to see what he does with this.

“I just couldn’t say no. Was talking to an old rancher, told him Id buy the near new tires and stock 16” wheels off this “huntin Jeep” (sitting in his field) for $200. He said,”Hell, if ya dont need no title you can have the whole dern thing fer $300.” How could I resist????”

And just for kicks, Jim goes on to hypothesize about how the builders put this jeep together … “Well sir, me, Crazy Killer Carl and Billy Bob Jr. Jr. Jr. got that there big ass rebuilt V8 engine in her, had to move the grill forward and use a giant shoehorn, pry bar, elbow grease, moonshine and lots of beer. Then, we stuffed that there big ass radiator in her but couldn’t close the hood! Would have just left it off but didn’t want no rain to get into the carb. So, we made us a custom hood scoop and some custom “venterlation” ports at the back of the hood on each side which looks bad ass if we may say so our own bad selves! We also modified the dash for a rockin stereo and speaker which we’ll put in later as soon as we can afford one. Hell, we no longer use a rifle for huntin deer, just run em down with all that horsepower! Look out overhaulin, you have some serious down home engineering competition!”

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Builds — A CJ-3B that got away from Jim

• CATEGORIES: Builds • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Here’s a favorite CJ-3B that Jim owned, sold, but now wished he kept.

Jim writes, “This was super nice rig, built frame off, all stock, all new, immaculate, my girlfriend drove it alot and we should have kept it but was offered huge money and couldn’t say no.”

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Builds — Jim’s modified M-38

• CATEGORIES: Builds, M-38 • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Jim writes that this jeep came with a “Big 4 bolt camaro 350 V8, auto trans, power steering, disc, later model CJ5 running gear, M38 33/10/15 muds etc. Still have the beast, havent decided what to do with it but its a ton of fun and a handful with all that power!”

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Builds — Jim’s 1951 CJ-3A Makeover

• CATEGORIES: Builds, CJ-3A • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Jiim writes, “Ironically, was already sort of OD green when I got it. That nasty bench seat weighed about 250 lbs when I pulled it out, kept thinking it was still bolted in somewhere, nope, just that heavy…”

Before:

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After:

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Builds — Jim’s 1960 CJ-3B Makeoer

• CATEGORIES: CJ-3B • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Jim shows in this 1960 CJ-3B makeover that a few smart decisions can make a world of difference in how a jeep appears.

Before:

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After:

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Builds — Jim’s 1960 CJ-5

• CATEGORIES: CJ5 • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This is a 1960 CJ-5 that got a new lease on life thanks to efforts by Jim.

Before:

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After:

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Builds — Jim’s Mighty Mites

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Mighty Mites • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Here’s some pictures of Jim’s two Mighty Mites.  He notes that they are a horror to work on.  In two years, I’ve only seen two or three of these for sale on craigslist.  They appear very hard to find.

Here’s the first one:

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Reader Builds — Jim’s 1952 M-38A1

• CATEGORIES: Builds • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Here’s an example of how an M-38A1 can be improved with some paint, some parts, and creativity.  As Jim notes, “from ugly yellow hunting jeep back to what it should be…”

Before:

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After:

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Readers Builds — Another M-38A1 from Jim

• CATEGORIES: Builds • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Here’s another M-38A1.  By painting it green, installing some parts, and adding some touches,  it adds a great deal to the military feel.

Before:

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After:

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Reader Builds — CJ-3B Ugly Duckling Transformed by Jim

• CATEGORIES: Builds • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Jim writes that this one was “One of my favorites, had a lot of character. This CJ3B was a really ugly ranch jeep I found in Montrose Colorado. Ran and drove well and after I got it home, figured out a way to make use of that ugly bed extension. Every tourist and kid in downtown Durango loved this thing!”

When I saw this thing for sale, I bluntly said I didn’t understand it.  But, after looking at the ‘before’ pictures, I can see Jim took the hand he was dealt and played it creatively.  Make sure to see the pics of the backend.

Before:

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After:

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1948 CJ-2A **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: Builds, CJ-2A • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

**SOLD**

“The good stuff and everything I’ve added, replaced, rebuilt, etc: Clear Colorado title, Jeep is turn key, start it and go, needs nothing major right now.  Original flathead 4 cylinder, Solex carb, 12 volt, rebuilt a few years ago, runs great, excellent oil pressure, no smoke etc. Original transmission/transfer case, also rebuilt, shifts tight, quiet, never does the “2nd gear pop” like so many Willys. Body’s in great shape, CJ3A windshield frame, The usual minor rust in the tool box (see picture) and at the ends of the hat channels. The rest of the Jeep’s in great shape, perfect floor boards front/back, some dents in the rear corners that someone repaired with bondo in the last 60 years….”

Below are some exclusive before pictures of this jeep:

Before:

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After:

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Reader’s Builds — Jim’s Barn

• CATEGORIES: Builds, News • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

A reader named Jim has been working with jeeps for quite a while, rebuilding roughly 70 jeeps over the years. He started rebuilding jeeps by adding v8s, lifting them, and hot rodding them a bit.  Over the years, he did something unusual, he paid attention to what customers seemed to want.  The result, as you will see, is that he has taken a variety of jeeps, provided a military theme, and accessorized them well without investing large amounts of time or money.  He said he found that people seem to really respond to the military theme.  In addition, he wrote to me, “I cant stand to see an old ranch jeep neglected in some field or some backyard; I have to make it run, make it fun, and bring it back to life again.”  He’s found a great niche, has fun, and gets to collect some jeeps.  We should all be as fortunate 🙂

Here’s got 9 willys, an m-38, m-38a1, aussie land cruiser troop carrier and plenty of extra parts.  Here’s a shot of his barn.  I’ll be provided some glimpses of his projects over the next few days (I’ve run out of time tonight).  Thanks Jim!

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